1 Seeing that many have undertaken to draw up an account concerning the proceedings fully carried through among us,
2 just as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses to, and had become servants of the word – just as they handed those things down to us,
3 so it seemed right to me too, who has followed everything accurately from the beginning, to write to you in an orderly way, Your Excellency Theophilus,
4 in order that you might come to know the certainty of the matters about which you have been taught by word of mouth.
Zacharias Ministers in the Temple
5 In the days of Herod the king of Judaea there was a certain priest by the name of Zacharias, from the division of Abia, whose wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord blamelessly.
7 Now they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were elderly,
8 and it came to pass while he was holding the office of priest in the appointed order of his division before God,
9 in accordance with the custom of the priestly office, that he received the lot of burning incense as he went into the Lord's sanctuary.
10 And while the whole gathering of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense,
Angel Announces the Birth of John
11 the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right hand side of the incense altar.
12 And Zacharias was alarmed when he saw him, and fear fell on him,
13 but the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your supplication has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call him John,
14 and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great in the Lord's sight, and he will not drink any wine or liquor at all, and he will be filled with holy spirit even from his mother's womb,
16 and he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 And he will go ahead of him in the spirit and power of Elijah, in order to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the prudence of the righteous, to prepare a people equipped for the Lord.”
Zacharias Is Not Able to Speak
18 Then Zacharias said to the angel, “By what means will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is elderly.”
19 Then the angel replied and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you, and bring you the good tidings of these things.
20 Now look, you will be dumb and not able to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their due time.”
21 Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they were surprised at him taking so much time in the sanctuary,
22 and when he came out, he was not able to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. So he kept making signs to them, and remained dumb.
23 And it came to pass when the days of his officiating service were completed that he went off to his home,
24 and after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid herself away for five months, and said,
25 “This is how the Lord has acted for me in the days when he condescended to remove my reproach among men.”
Gabriel Announces the Birth of Christ
26 Then in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee, the name of which was Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin was Mary,
28 and when the angel had come to her, he said, “Greetings, you who have been shown grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.”
29 Now when she saw this, she was deeply disturbed at his words, and pondered on what kind of greeting this might be,
30 but the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God.
31 And look, you will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and you will give him the name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and be called the son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, seeing I do not know a man?”
35 At this the angel answered and said to her, “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. On account of this, the holy child who will be born will be called the son of God.
36 And look, Elizabeth your kinswoman has herself also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren,
37 for nothing will prove impossible with God.”
38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the maidservant of the Lord. May it come to pass for me according to your words.” And the angel departed from her.
Visitation of Mary to Elisabeth
39 Then in those days Mary got up and went with haste into the mountainous region, to a town of Judah,
40 and went into Zacharias's house and greeted Elizabeth.
41 Then it came to pass, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, that the baby in her womb leapt, and Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit,
42 and she called out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
43 And from where is this privilege of mine that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For I saw how, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby leapt for joy in my womb.
45 And blessed is she who has believed that an accomplishment of the things spoken to her by the Lord will take place.”
46 Then Mary said, “My being magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit has rejoiced in God my saviour,
48 because he has looked favourably on the lowly status of his maidservant. For it will be seen that from now on all generations will pronounce me blessed,
49 because he who is mighty has done great deeds for me, and holy is his name,
50 and his mercy is on those who fear him, from generation to generation.
51 He has acted in strength with his arm; he has scattered those who are arrogant in the thoughts of their heart.
52 He has removed powerful men from their thrones and exalted the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped Israel his servant, remembering mercy –
55 as he said to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed – throughout the Age.”
56 Then Mary remained with her for about three months, and then returned to her house.
Elizabeth Gives Birth to John
57 Meanwhile Elizabeth's time for her to give birth became due, and she bore a son.
58 And her neighbours and relatives heard how the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it came to pass on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child, and they called him after the name of his father Zacharias,
60 but his mother replied and said, “No; instead, he will be called John.”
61 Then they said to her, “There is no-one in your family who is called by that name.”
62 So they made signs to his father as to what he wished him to be called.
63 At this he asked for a writing-tablet and wrote as follows: “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.
64 Then his mouth was immediately opened, as was his tongue, and he spoke blessing God.
65 Then fear came upon all those who lived around them, and in the entire mountainous region of Judaea all these matters were talked about,
66 and all those who heard it laid it to heart and said, “What then will this child turn out to be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zacharias Prophecies the Ministry of John
67 Then Zacharias his father was filled with holy spirit, and he prophesied, and said,
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has visited and accomplished redemption for his people,
69 and has raised a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of the holy ones – his prophets of old time –
71 bringing about salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us,
72 in showing mercy to our fathers and in remembering his holy covenant,
73 – the oath which he swore to Abraham our father – to grant to us,
74 that we, after being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him fearlessly,
75 in sanctity and righteousness in his sight, all the days or our life.
76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to impart knowledge of salvation to his people, by forgiveness of their sins,
78 by means of the compassionate mercy of our God, by which one who has sprung up has visited us from on high,
79 in appearing to those living in darkness and the shadow of death, to direct our feet onto the way of peace.”
80 So the child grew up, and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert places until the day of his being presented to Israel.